


Strangers in A Strange Nightmare

by acerbicwit



Category: Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Families of Choice, Friendship, Gen, Roland reps some presidential power, boss battle mechanics, kingmaker FIGHT, more or less, sometimes family is an alien with a gun his cat son and everyone they adopt along the way
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2020-12-23 20:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21087512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acerbicwit/pseuds/acerbicwit
Summary: The development of Evermore is progressing smoothly as Evan and the team collect new citizens and sow peace throughout the region. Until Doloran loses patience. To satisfy some curiosity and test just how powerful this merry band of kingdom builders is, Doloran uses his magic to bring forth the power of Roland's kingsbond.Pulled into a kingmaker battle, the team faces the consequences of fighting a friend who doesn't recognize them.





	1. Enemy by Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Listen, if you're gonna give me a sexy Mr. President who carries a straight up gun and has espionage skills, then I'm gonna want my military/magic crossover. So that's what this is.  
Am I mussing up canon mechanics? Yeah. It's magic. And faux-military stuff, cause I gather just enough knowledge to write what I want. How does it all work? Enjoy the ride babes.

“I’m glad we were able to get Bao Wao his peas,” Evan said as he cheerfully strolled out of Goldpaw.

“And now we’re getting a new chef for Evermore!” Tani added on, excited.

“Good work everyone. Let’s go back now to check up on the kingdom’s developments,” Roland said as they made their way to their ship.

“Yes, there are some references I want to check in our library before we go on another expedition,” Leander agreed as the group boarded and took off for home. As they were flying back, though, Batu called from his post at the ship’s railing.

“Lymina on our left! Don’t we have a bounty on that beast?” Evan rushed to check himself and agreed excitedly.

“Let’s land! We can finish the bounty and truly call this day a success.” The others nodded in agreement, and the ship quickly banked to land in the field before the giant creature.

“Should be easy enough,” Roland said, eyeing the beast.

“Let’s get to it then, quick like!” Loft called. “I’m looking forward to dinner with our new cook!”

“Alright everyone!” Evan called. “Charge!”

The tainted Lymina put up a fight, but with their team work and experience, the beast was no match in the end. With a few final swings, Evan put an end to the monster.

“Well now, that’s that,” Lofty called. “Back to the ship, if you please. I’ve worked up an appetite.”

“You barely did anything, you lazy kingmaker,” Tani replied as she skipped by to Lofty’s offended cries. Roland chuckled and did one final sweep of the field as the others passed him, checking for dropped items or scattered belongings. Satisfied, he turned to catch up to his team, when he heard a dark rustling behind him. Then an unmistakable voice chided at him.

“Not quite vigilant enough, Roland. Do try to be better in the future.”

Before Roland could spin around, a clawed hand dug viciously into his hair and yanked him back. Stumbling, Roland fell into an iron grip. Ahead of him, the rest of his team was boarding the airship. Evan, mid-laugh at Lofty’s antics, turned to catch Roland’s eye. His mirth quickly turned to fright as he saw Roland, and the young king gasped. At Evan’s reaction, the others quickly spun, bracing for a rampaging monster or other impending threat. None of them saw what they expected.

Doloran, wisps of black still dissipating from his teleportation, held a sharp knife fast to Roland's throat. His other hand tangled in Roland's hair to hold him still, pulling the advisor’s head back at an unforgiving angle.

“What a coincidence meeting you all here,” Doloran drawled.

“Roland!” Evan cried.

“Release him, Doloran!” Leander leveled his wand at the dark mage.

“Why would I do that?” Doloran chuckled and pressed the knife closer to Roland’s neck.

“What d’ye want then,” Batu growled. Tani carefully circled to her father’s side, watching for any opening to separate their friend from the mage.

“I’m here to indulge in an experiment. You were all kind enough to gather together for me.”

Evan grit his teeth and demanded again, “What do you want?”

Doloran ignored him, tilting his head to address Roland directly, though his eyes never left the group in front of him.

"I wonder how similar we really are, Roland,” the mage mused. “You have no kingmaker here, but you were a ruler in your own right. And your bond is so broken already that it’s nearly ripe for the taking. Vulnerable,” Doloran taunted in Roland’s ear. “Let's see what power your kingsbond holds."

With that he shifted one hand down to cover Roland’s heart and the other hand to cover his forehead, and black energy rose up to surround them both.

* * *

Roland clutched at his head and slowly crumpled to his knees.

"Roland!" The concerned yells of his friends, Evan's loudest of the group, washed over him, but he couldn't answer. His head was splitting open, and he felt like he was falling into a swirl of buried memories and darkness. He screwed his eyes shut tight against the building pain and could do nothing but groan. He thought he heard a terrible laugh above him when suddenly the pain stopped. _What was I–_

He gasped, his eyes snapped open, and his head shot up.

He was in a bright desert. The sun almost blinding and unbearably hot. His head pounded, but his mind was unnervingly blank. _Where…_ His sight was blurry, but he could taste grit in his mouth and catch the stench of sweat and gun powder on the air. It came back in a rush. _Oh._ He knew where he was. And to make matters worse, as he blinked the last of the blurriness from his vision, enemy soldiers stood in front of him. They hadn’t attacked yet – _Why aren’t they firing at me?_ – but their weapons were drawn and they watched him intently. Roland swiftly stood.

Panic almost got the better of him. Enemy unit crawled up right under his nose while he was busy with a headache. How had he gotten caught so unaware? They hadn’t attacked yet. So they weren’t aiming to kill. Then– _No_. He refused to be taken in as a prisoner. It would be their mistake for not firing first, he swore, but when he grabbed for his holster he was greeted with empty air. Panic, again, spiked through him. Where was his gear?

Instinctively, he reached his arm out to his right, grasping at air. He thought he’d lost it, but suddenly he pulled from the air a dark billowing shadow that convalesced into the shape of a pistol. Its weight was sturdy and familiar. He could make this work.

He pointed his new weapon at the group, furious.

"Enemy sighted! Forward attack!"

The group in front of him started backward, like they didn't think he'd have the wits to retaliate. No matter, their incompetence would only help his victory.

The ground around him churned, and men rose up from the sand. Shaking dirt from army fatigues, adjusting guns and helmets, the reinforcements fanned out. Then, they charged the enemy group.


	2. Roland Crane: Displaced Leader of a Revenant Country

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doloran Peaces Out  
gratuitous action scenes START

After enveloping Roland in his dark magic, Doloran released the man to let him crumple to his knees.

“Roland!” Everyone yelled, but Roland didn’t look up. Tani sent an arrow flying at Doloran, but the mage simply flashed away with a chilling laugh. His voice echoed around the group one last time.

“Don’t disappoint me.”

On the ground Roland gasped for breath. Black mist rolled off of him as he dug his fingers into his head. Leander took a quick step forward, raising his wand though he wasn’t sure what could dispel Doloran’s corruption. Suddenly, the darkness billowed out. It surrounded all of them, blocking everyone’s vision of the coast and each other. When the shadows blew away, Evan let out a gasp. The coast-side field they had been in was gone. Now, they stood in a large circle of desert. Overhead, the sun beat down on them. Outside of the circle, the world was heat-hazed and indistinct.

The group looked away from their baffling surroundings when Roland let out a violent gasp. The man unbent from around himself and jerked his head up, looking disoriented. Dark mist slowly lifted from him, evaporating into the hot air.

Evan made to run to Roland, but Batu quickly flung his arm out to block the young king.

“What–?”

“Wait. Doloran did somethin’ to him, and we don’ know what.”

“R-Roland?” Tani called hesitantly. Roland seemed to be scanning the desert field, oddly intent. At Tani’s voice, though, his eyes snapped to the group in front of him, and he quickly rose. None of them were reassured by his attention.

There was no recognition in Roland’s eyes. Worse, there was a terrible hardness to his face that they had never seen before. Evan was about to try speaking again, when Roland reached his arm out to his right. From thin air, Roland called forth not any weapon from his armband. Instead, shadows collected around Roland’s outstretched hand and swirled into the shape of a gun. A gun that Roland promptly pointed straight at his allies.

"Enemy sighted! Forward attack!"

Everyone started back, instinctively wanting to fall into defensive positions, but it was Roland they were facing. Realization dawning, Lofty quickly looked over their new surroundings again.

“Crickey! It’s a kingmaker arena!”

“What?!” Tani was the only one to manage a question. Everyone was too stunned by the environment and their friend. Worse, after Roland spoke, the ground around him rumbled and churned, and then horrific foes started rising from the ground.

Made of shadows and sand and wearing uniforms none of the team had ever seen before, the group of six unexpected warriors gathered around Roland, fanning out in a semi-circle in front of the man. Before any of the team could even begin to guess what was happening, the strange soldiers charged toward them.

“No time for questions! Doloran’s awakened Roland’s kingsbond somehow, and now we’re trapped in a kingsmaker arena!” Lofty yelled as he dodged between soldiers swinging blades and the spit of bullets from guns further away. “If we want to get out alive, we need to stop Roland!”

“You want us to fight Roland?” Evan yelled in disbelief as he dodged away from a sand warrior.

“I said no time for questions! Doloran’s corrupted his kingsbond. We have to fight him if we want us all to survive this!”

Batu shoved a soldier off of him and slammed his hammer into his foe’s torso. The shadow fighter cracked where it was hit and stumbled back, pressing a hand to the wound. Across the arena, Evan and Leander took turns swinging at a pair of sand soldiers, while Tani held a third one at bay with arrows. Two gunmen had stayed behind to flank Roland, and they started shooting at Tani, harrying her away from the main fighting. Batu ran to block the gunmen’s sight line to his daughter, but was intercepted by an incoming knife swing. The soldier Tani’s arrows had been targeting had slipped closer in the distraction of bullets. It came in low at Batu with a long knife.

Batu had to jump back and bring his hammer down at an awkward angle to block the blade’s bid for his chest. He got a deep slice to the arm instead. Caught on his back foot between the knife wielding soldier and the distant gunmen, Batu braced for the impact of bullets. Tani, though, quickly turned her bow to the back gunmen and the two sides began exchanging shots.

Batu just got his footing to fend of the knife, when something closed in behind him. He glanced back and saw a soldier with a crack in its chest. Batu’s opponent from before. Clearly, Batu’s swing hadn’t been enough to down it. Two swings came at Batu then, a sword from behind and a knife from his front, and Batu realized he would be hit, even as he moved to block the sword’s swing over his shoulder. He braced for the knife.

Before it could connect, the soldier crumpled to the ground. Leander’s spear dug into the soldier’s back. Meanwhile, the sword behind Batu clanged into his axe. Batu spun, pushing the sword aside and swinging his axe around into the battered fighter. This time, the strike hit true, and the soldier burst into crumbling sand and shadow that fell to the ground.

The soldier knocked down by Leander’s spear tried to claw back to standing, but a well-aimed arrow from Tani finished the fighter. It too dissolved into sand and shadow. Leander, meanwhile, was weaponless as he reached for his wand. Evan took on both of their opponents, one wounded, the other quick with its own blade. With Lofty dancing around the fight, Evan ducked between the two soldiers, finishing the wounded one with a slice, and whipping his sword around to block a blow from the second.

Batu hefted his axe to help, but a stinging bite made him pause. He looked at the slash on his arm. It bled a shadowy mist, not like any wound he’d received before.

Batu snapped back to attention amid a hail of bullets. Tani had done good work from afar. One gunman was forced to kneeling from an arrow to the side. The other clearly sported slicing cracks from close calls. However, the gunmen had the advantage from so far away, and Tani sported her own bullet grazes and some unlucky blade cuts. The team needed to regroup.

Wand in hand, Leander trusted Evan to the last of the soldiers and called on his magic.

“Everyone, behind me!” Batu and Tani ducked back at once. With deep concentration, Leander raised his wand and, slowly, an earthen wall grew between Leander and the gunmen. Suddenly, Leander jerked twice, sharply, and dropped to the ground. Batu reached for him, but Leander’s eyes were open as he braced himself against the wall. It was just high enough to cover them all in a crouch.

“Evan!” Tani called, but the young king was already moving. A merciless stab forward cracked the last soldier into sand and Evan spun. Just as the spit of distant guns was turned on Evan, he dove for the wall and joined his team under cover.

Lofty popped up in the middle of group, peering at everyone in concern. They all were gasping for breath after that melee, trying to keep up with the rapidly changing action in the intense desert heat. Leander and Evan both rose to look over the wall and check what their opposition was doing, but Leander winced and nearly fell before he could get all the way up.

Evan reached out to brace Leander and they all saw two bullet wounds in his chest, oozing shadows. Glancing around, though Leander had the worst of it, it was easy to see they were all battered. And all with those odd, shadowy wounds. Evan reached for his healing items, but started when several loud thuds resounded from the earth wall. Everyone scanned the wall, but there were no cracked in it yet. Roland’s gunmen weren’t leaving them alone though, and a dirt wall wouldn’t hold forever against bullets.

Evan dug out a sovereign soreaway sweet, and soon everyone felt the cool relief of a full restoration of health. Leander’s bullet wounds closed, and the cuts and bruises on everyone faded away.

“Thank goodness our healing items still work. I was concerned the unusual injuries meant some unfamiliar magic was at work,” Leander said as he breathed deeply.

“It’s odd, though. Sometimes, I didn’t even notice the hit until a bit after it’d happened, and it’d start burning,” Tani commented, confused.

“Yes, they’re no ordinary wounds. The immediate impact is barely felt, but the longer left untreated, the longer the shadows seemed to eat at the wound, like a poison.” Even amidst the chaos, they all took a second to feel grim concern for Roland, who shadows still clung to in a corrupt mist.

Another round of bullets thudded into the wall. Evan again stood to peer carefully over the top of it, suddenly desperate to check on Roland.

Roland himself hadn’t moved once in the encounter. In the confusion, none of the team had time to even think of charging toward the man. Not that they could have gotten close. Roland’s soldiers were fast and brutal, with weapons the group only somewhat recognized, and they had taken the team completely off guard. Now, Roland stood while his two remaining soldiers aimed steadily at the wall. They fired as soon as they saw Evan’s head, and he hurriedly ducked back down.

Tani meanwhile began interrogating Lofty. “Alright, so what’s going on? Did you say we’re in a kingmaker arena? How’s that even possible?”

“Whoa there, whoa there, I don’t know much more ‘n you at this point. But only the power of a kingmaker could transport us to the arena we’re in now.”

“Doloran did say that Roland has the power of a kingsbond within him,” Leander replied, talking quickly. “He must have called on and corrupted that power to transport us here. Since Roland does not truly have a kingmaker in this realm, Doloran’s magic has compelled him to use the power of his kingsbond to fight us directly.”

“Well…aye, that about sums it up,” Lofty nodded.

“But how do we fix it?” Evan asked, eyes wide.

“He’s already said, lad. Like any other kingmaker or foe, we have t’beat him,” Batu said grimly.

“Got it in one, there.” As Lofty nodded the ground shook and rumbled, and Evan popped his head back over the wall to check on the other side.

“You want us to fight Roland. After all that?” Tani asking in disbelief, waving her hand at the wall and soldiers and whole mess.

“Um. Everyone,” Evan was using his nervous voice, and everyone immediately turned to him. “Roland’s summoned more soldiers.”

Evan suddenly dropped to the ground just as several shots flew overhead. More shot into the wall and finally, it began to crack.

“Alrigh’, listen here then. We have to stop Roland. If we don’, then he stops us for good,” Lofty said.

“Spread out then,” Batu waved as he picked up his hammer again. “We’ll charge him fast and together.”

“I’ll hang back and target the soldiers with my magic,” Leander replied. “Clear the way.” Batu nodded. Tani and Evan looked uncertain still, but when Batu waved at them again, they spread out as far as they could behind their wall. Pieces of the wall had been gouged out of the top already, and the steady thump of boots signaled the cautious approach of Roland’s new soldiers.

“Ready, now…Go!” Batu yelled, and everyone sprung up, dashing forward. Leander immediately shot a bolt of lightning, briefly downing a pair of soldiers. The other two soldiers took hasty swings at the runners. Batu was intercepted by one.

Tani was nicked by the swing of another, but she thought she got through. Then, a hand grabbed her ankle and tripped her. One of the fallen soldiers had rallied quickly enough to stall Tani. The passed soldier reengaged her.

Leander downed a strong sixth cencer and followed up his lightning strike with a fire ball, aimed at the gunmen in the back. The four charging soldiers were new, but the gunmen were the same as before, and already injured. He landed a direct hit on one and charred it into a smoldering pile of glassy sand. When Evan broke through the charge, he shot another spell at the remaining gunman, and it cracked into broken sand as well. Roland ducked away from the heated spray. Before him, the two fallen soldiered recovered, and joined the ongoing fight against Batu and Tani. With the two trapped in close fighting, Leander couldn’t risk destructive spells. Instead, he took up his spear to charge in to the fray. Batu, Tani, and Leander engaged the four soldiers to keep them from moving back to Roland. Evan, meanwhile finally reached his advisor.

“Roland, please. I don’t want to fight you,” Evan near begged his closest advisor.

“Then leave. Or better yet, surrender,” Roland bit back. There was no recognition in his eyes or warmth in his face. Neither lowered their guard. “But I won’t surrender to you. If you stay, you stay to fight.”

“I won’t! You know me Roland, please!” Evan cried, but Roland simply shook his head as two soldiers rose from the sand.

“Then you’re in trouble.”

The soldiers lunged forward, and Evan was pressed back into battle.

Behind them, Batu, Leander, and Tani fought with the four frontline soldiers. One was quickly dispatched, nearly cracked apart already by Leander’s lightning strike, but the other three were vicious and kept the team moving. Batu was closest to Evan and Roland when Evan cried out. He glanced back when he got a chance, concerned for the young boy facing Roland alone, but saw Evan fighting those blasted soldiers instead. Roland stood alone to the side, watching Evan’s fight carefully.

That was an opening.

Batu turned back to the fight, and took the first opportunity he got to shove his opponent off of him, coincidently straight into Leander’s swing.

“Hold them off!” He yelled to the startled magician, and spun away.

Seeing Batu’s goal, Leander and Tani grimly nodded to each other, and took on the three soldiers. They attacked where they could, but the highest priority was simply to keep them from retreating to Roland.

Batu ran.

Roland, intent on Evan’s fight, almost didn’t notice Batu until the man was on him. Then, eyes wide, he quickly ducked away, buying himself a few more seconds from Batu’s swing to reach down for the sheath at his side.

Batu watched Roland’s hand flash to his side. He hurried to get a swing in before Roland could bring out any new tricks, but Roland dove out of reach. The man came up again holding a long knife in his left hand, his pistol still dripping shadows in his right.

“Fer an all-out brawl, yer doing an awful lot of standing around,” Batu said as they eyed each other.

“For a full enemy squad, you’re doing a surprisingly incompetent job of taking me down,” Roland drawled, adjusting his grip on his knife. “When you really attack me, I’ll stop standing around so much.”

Batu grimaced. He wasn’t eager to attack a friend, nor engage Roland in particular, but Roland didn’t seem to recognize any of them, trapped in Doloran’s spell. It was time to end things. Batu hefted his axe. If he could avoid Roland’s gun, then he had the better reach of weapons. Batu ran forward, axe swinging.

Roland braced his feet. Batu’s axe swung down, and at the last second Roland raised his arms, crossing the knife and gun overhead. The weapons neatly caught the axe in its downswing, though by Roland’s grunt, the impact still packed a punch. Batu wondered why the man didn’t dodge for all of two seconds. Then, the ground between them shifted, and a soldier rose out of it in a crouch right at Batu’s feet.

Batu flung himself back right as a sword pierced up from the ground. It gouged a line through his shoulder before he could move away. In a panic, Batu dodged blindly to the side, anticipating the follow-up swing. Batu was in full retreat, and his shoulder throbbed. But he wasn’t alone.

“Batu!” He heard his name behind him, and then felt the cool wash of a healing item. Evan had joined him.

“I’ve still got one on me,” Evan said as they circled to group up against the now two opponents facing them.

“Better’n three,” Batu replied, as they exchanged blows with the soldiers. There was something distracting him, though. Something about the fight with Roland…what had he noticed…

“Ah! Roland’s gun!” Batu raised his voice to make sure Tani and Leander heard him as well.

“What?” Evan asked, perplexed, but time for conversation was short as the two soldiers attacked.

Leander and Tani, though, had whittled their group down from three to one with a combination of quick team work and quick use of healing items. With a final shove and swing, the last of their sand soldiers crumbled away. As one, they turned to look at Roland and figure out what Batu could possibly be trying to warn them about.

It was startlingly clear once they got eyes on him. Roland’s shadow gun, the symbol of the corrupt power running through him, was gone. In his hands now was a simple knife. Lofty jumped up.

“Now’s our chance! He’s used up all the magic! Get over there before it recovers!” Lofty shoved at Leander’s leg, but the two hardly needed prompting. Barely sparing a moment to catch their breaths and apply some soreaways, they ran at Roland who stood alone and, hopefully, weakened.

“Roland!” Leander called. Roland was ready this time, and held his knife at the ready at their approach. “We don’t want to fight you. You’re under the control of Doloran’s magic. You must stop attacking us.”

“Must I? If you want to stop fighting then surrender. I refuse to do so,” Roland said plainly, on guard. “Or better still, turn around and walk away. I promise I’ll let you go.”

Leander’s jaw clenched.

“We don’t want to fight you,” he repeated, bringing his spear to the ready. Tani mirrored him.

“But we will if we have to!” Tani finished. “We’ll snap you out of this no matter what!”

And they attacked.

* * *

Roland was in trouble.

His Beretta was through, fifteen bullets spent and magazine empty. And worse, as soon as it was empty, it disappeared. Now, he had one knife to fend off two spears, and for all that his opponents kept saying they didn’t want to fight, they were brutally efficient in action.

Roland dodged and dove, threw punches and kicks, turned away thrusts with careful twists, all a steely dance between his two opponents. He held his own. But he had one knife, and the spears were in experienced hands. It wouldn’t last.

He was nicked on an arm. A shaft nearly brained him. Then one of them caught deep at his thigh, and his leg collapsed. The two spear wielders hesitated, like they were surprised, but Roland knew he was done. He rallied his strength for a last dive.

Then, a saving call rang across the group.

"Medic on the field!"

Roland’s eyes widened. His two opponents jolted up and looked around. Roland took the chance. Forcing his injured leg under him again, he rolled away and sprung up out of spear reach. His attackers let out startled yells, but Roland was already turning, searching.

A man with a bright red cross on his front and back had materialized at the edge of the ring of desert and was running towards Roland. Roland stumbled to him.

"What on earth is that?" Before any of the squad could decide how to react, the exchange was done.

The red cross marked man reached Roland. Quickly, he knelt at Roland's feet and opened the case he'd brought with him. Instantly, a small, green aura encircled Roland and the medic faded away. Roland, meanwhile, looked reinvigorated. His breath evened out. The wound in his thigh closed. More importantly, though, Roland sheathed his knife, and pulled, again, a black pistol from thin air.


	3. Foreign Fields and Foes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight continues, because I like pretending that action scenes count as plot.
> 
> also consistent chapter lengths? what's that?

Lofty groaned. "Not good, that!"

Soldiers, freshly slain by Batu and Evan, clawed up from the ground around Roland and charged the battered team once more.

"We'll just have to stop the next one," Tani yelled as she fended off a soldier's blow.

The fight was brutal as always, but the team was falling into a rhythm. More quickly than before, the first soldier of the group cracked into sand. They were tired, but they had proof now, that this wasn’t endless. They just had to outlast the insanity of Roland’s corrupted power.

Sensing this, Roland took action.

He brought the dark shadow of his pistol closer to his face. There it shifted from a gun into a boxy contraption. A communicator. Roland yelled into it, "Calling in the air strike!"

“Calling the what?” Tani yelled from across the arena.

At Roland’s order, his soldiers melted quickly back into the sand, leaving Evan’s group alone on the field to swing uselessly at air before they registered what happened.

Then, everyone’s eyes went skyward, looking for telltale silhouettes of airmen above them. The sky stayed clear though.

“What’s that noise?” Leander called. They all heard it – a growling echo from the sky getting louder by the second. Suddenly, a line of red, glowing circles appeared on the ground, crossing over where Batu and Evan stood.

“Move!” The airstrike arrived.

Faster than any of them expected, a giant plane appeared above them in a thundering wind. Fiery explosives aimed to carpet the ground where Evan and Batu stood. Evan dodged, but Batu was just slow enough to get caught by the edge of the blast. He was thrown, tumbling through the air to the far end of the arena. Tani yelled after him, but her voice was drowned in the resounding noise of the machine passing over them. Batu quickly rolled back to his feet, singed but up.

By the time anyone thought to check above them for a second passing, the sky was clear again. They quickly turned, braced for the return of Roland’s soldiers, but Roland stood alone and still. The thundering echo of the warship still shook through the air as they stared down their friend.

The roaring grew louder.

“Blimey, it’s back!” The plane wasn’t alone. Three dark specks rocketed toward them, quickly growing into those monstrous airships.

Stripes of warning red crossed the arena. Tani, Leander, and Evan, again, were caught in the red blaze. Batu was too far away to help. The three across the field sought safe ground for themselves. Just in time, the artillery dropped, their concussive blasts sweeping the group to the ground, but no one was caught in the fire.

Sand exploded around them instead, turning the arena into a dust storm as the bombs ate at the ground. Evan pushed himself up and squinted through the dusty haze. He looked for Roland.

Windswept, blue coat whipping around his feet, the man still did not move.

“They’re not done yet!” Evan called out a warning.

No one questioned his yell, only shoved themselves back to standing. They were battered and bruised from the last pass, but they scanned the sky and ground. Again, the roaring echo in the sky grew louder.

Five dark shadows bore down on them from above.

“Get ready!” Batu yelled as the ground lit up in glowing red circles. Almost the entire arena was covered, and in the split second before the missiles hit, Batu knew they wouldn’t all escape this run.

The group threw themselves to clear ground, somewhere, anywhere, as explosions landed.

Tani was throw clear across the field. Luckily right into Batu, who grabbed her out of her tumble and crouched low in the dust clouded arena. They roughly coughed in the sand-blasted air. There was no one near them, and, until the sand cleared more, they didn’t know where to go searching.

Leander staggered to his feet in the aftermath of a concussive blast. No one was near him. The arena was hazy and shapes were indistinct, making him fear that he took a harder blow than he’d thought from the explosions. Then, the rush of a soreaway sweet’s healing passed over him. Evan was still up then, and Leander was sure the entire party had just been granted a full recovery. The arena was still clouded with sand, though, and Leander squinted through the haze.

Evan took a deep breath after the healing wave.

“Alright then?” Lofty softly asked at his side.

Evan nodded, but he felt taut. That last bomb pass was a disaster. Evan was beyond thankful he had another healing item for the full team. In the haze, he paused to take stock, hoping that Roland would hold off on sending in his soldiers to stumble blindly through the cloud.

Knowing Roland had that kind of power on demand was rattling. It certainly dampened his hope of ending this without anyone getting seriously injured. Luckily, somehow, they had made it this far relatively whole, but they had to be careful with their healing items going forward. Evan wasn’t sure how much longer they’d be expected to last.

Roland’s magic was controlled by the gun, which clearly had a limit. Evan wasn’t sure what that was, or whether this last feat would run it out more quickly. He did know that it could be replenished by that strange healer. The healer only seemed to appear when Roland was heavily injured. Evan frowned in unhappy pain at the idea of having to get Roland to that point again, but neither did he want any of their other companions to get wounded past the point of easy return. He knew Roland felt the same, in his true heart.

Doloran had corrupted everything.

“Easy, Evan,” Lofty cautioned in that same quiet voice. Evan loosened his clenched fists.

“Sorry, Lofty. I just…I know what we need to do. I just hate it.”

“Aye, laddie. But the sooner done, the sooner we all go home.” Evan’s face twisted up before he huffed. Shaking himself out, he gave one last sharp nod.

“Right. Then we all go home. Together.”

The sand was slowly settling, and Evan could just make out who he thought must be Leander, to his left. Done with waiting, Evan pulled out his wand and slashed it through the air. A fierce breeze stirred, gusting through the arena and clearing out the last of the loose sand. Evan could finally take stock of his party.

Leander, yes to his left, and standing carefully with his own wand drawn. Farther away, across the arena, Tani and Batu braced against one another, weapons drawn. With their vision cleared, they centered themselves on the main threat once again.

Roland, to Evan’s right. For all that happened, he seemed undisturbed. A slight grimace bent his face, but even with the sand dusting his coat, his hair, he looked unflappable. He still held that cursed shadow gun in his right hand.

With the arena cleared, Roland finally had sight on them as well. Without saying anything, frown deepening, he raised his gun. Ten soldiers rose from the ground. Perhaps Roland had grown as sick of this whole fight as Evan.

The young king fell quickly into a fighting stance, and he saw the others do the same.

“Don’t give up! We can’t let things stop here. We’ll finish this together!” Evan rallied.

“Aye. There’s no way I’m losing to the likes of Roland, especially him not in his right mind,” Batu agreed.

“Brace yourselves,” Leander warned.

Roland took a breath.

“Charge.”

Leander moved his wand.

Lightning rained down on the charging soldiers. With his whole team at the edges of the area, and the enemy gather together so closely, Leander moved quickly to seize the opportunity. Many of the soldiers stumbled, but none of them fell. Leander sent out a second volley of lightning.

Joining in, Evan shot forth a gout of fire, burning into the soldiers. Across the field, Tani switched her spear for a bow and sent volley after volley into the group. Three fell into crumbling piles in the onslaught, but the rest of the wave reached their targets, and close-range fighting was on.

Three attacked Tani and Batu, not enough to overwhelm the pair, but enough to keep them busy.

Two reached Evan. Lofty called out warnings at his side, and Evan’s sword flashed between the soldiers

Two attacked Leander, who, alone and with space, was much fiercer with his magic than he would have been in a close group.

Still, he had to switch between weapons as his magic depleted. Then suddenly, another two soldiers appeared at Leander’s flank. The mage had to twist and dodge to fend off their abrupt arrival. Roland must have summoned more soldiers after everyone was occupied. They had all split up nicely for him. It gave Roland the luxury of choosing a target to overwhelm.

Leander knew he was capable, but four of these soldiers were too much alone. Especially when he had not yet put a satisfactory dent in the first two. He was quickly approaching the point of being overcome. Glanced behind himself, he confirmed Evan was still nearby, and Leander began backing toward him. He took several hits, but could only push on.

He knew he was close enough when he heard Lofty yell for Evan’s attention. Then –

“Leander, duck!” Leander dove away and dropped, just as a rush of fire shot out above him. He rolled back to his feet just in time to intercept an attack from the soldier at Evan’s back. Circling up, Leander and Evan fought fiercely, perhaps desperately. Against so many opponents they had to step carefully in their advance. But the numbers whittled down, soon to nothing but more sand and shadow on the wind.

They looked across the field. Tani and Batu had eliminated the last of their opponents moments before. They hadn’t approached too closely, but the two were zeroed in again on Roland. Leander, Evan, and Lofty joined them.

This time, Roland stood on high guard. His knife was back in is left hand, but in his right, he still held his pistol.

“Careful now. His gun’s still there. Nearly got me last time with a tricky move using it.”

“We go together,” Evan declared. “We’ll be strongest as one group.”

“Our numbers will force his hand. Then we must simply finish this,” Leander agreed.

One more pause settled over the arena as the team waited for Evan’s cue. He let himself hesitate for one moment longer. Then stepped forward.

“Charge!”

They ran. Roland sank into a ready stance. As soon as they were a few steps out, the ground in front of them rumbled, and Batu and Leander both stumbled, their feet caught in the churning sand. Two soldiers sprang from the sand, and took quick, opportunistic attacks on each man. Leander dodged the worst of the one thrust, and Tani reached her spear up to turn away the swing at Batu, but both landed shallow hits. First blood to Roland.

However, Evan saw as he turned to Roland, the man now held his knife in his right hand. His left was empty. They could do this. Lofty noticed as well.

“We’re in the last of it now, don’t give it up here!”

The team rallied.

Batu and Leander took on the final of Roland’s soldiers. Evan and Tani faced Roland himself. Evan refused to use battle spells against Roland. He was still terrified of what might end up being permanent in this corrupt kingmaker arena. He and Tani whittled down at Roland instead.

With her spear and his sword, they were able to keep out of the reach of Roland’s knife. Not to say that they had an easy time of it. Evan had always admired Roland’s skill with a sword, and the reasons why were in full force in this fight. Even with only a knife, Roland was a smart fighter. He passed defenses with quick lunges, often forcing Evan or Tani into retreats. Still, neither Tani nor Evan were novices themselves, and Roland was not so skilled as to put them off forever. Both sides collected cuts and slashes. Roland took a memorable crack to the head from Tani’s spear, and collapsed to ground, though he immediately rolled away to a guarded crouch. Blood dripped down his head though, and his balance wavered. Then. The call Evan had been waiting for.

"Medic on the field!"

The call pierced through the fighting. Another soldier with a bright red cross on his front and back materialized at a different point along the edge of the arena. Again, the soldier began running towards Roland.

"Stop it! Or we'll never get done with this!" Lofty yelled, but Evan was already running.

Roland lunged for the medic, but Evan was faster and dodged into the healer’s path. Leander ducked forward to distract Roland in Evan’s absence. Evan cautiously faced the approaching healer, not sure whether the soldier would attack anyone who wasn’t Roland. Instead of fighting Evan, however, the medic simply dropped to its knees in front of Evan and opened its case. A green aura surrounded Evan who could feel his own wounds healing this time. His tail twitched. "Oh."

"Well now, I guess they can be right useful like."

"Just keep an eye out for any others. The healing is a nice benefit, though," Leander called, immediately ducking a swipe of Roland’s knife.

Tani and Leander were back to tag-teaming Roland. He was more familiar with their team work this time, and had been holding them off. Batu, behind them, cut a soldier to pieces, the one Leander left behind when he moved to fight Roland. The last soldier was already limping. Batu swung on him readily, so Evan rejoined the main group. Three on one meant things would be over quickly.

Evan grit his teeth and leveled his sword one more time against his closest adviser.


End file.
